Flawed Design
by thesheepishchild
Summary: Something is wrong with Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy. Short tempers, violent outbursts, and raging headaches become a regularity for them. Is a participant of the Grand Games hurting them, or does the problem lie within themselves. Spoilers for recent chapter
1. Chapter 1

Though their guild was cheering loudly for them, the two dragon slayers could only smile at them. Drenched in sweat and out of breath, the two of them fell to the ground when they finally crossed the finish line. Laxus and Elfman ran to aid their nakama and when they returned to the Fairy Tail section, the exhausted participants were eager to see two barrels of water waiting for them.

Their guild members congratulated them, but their attention was solely on the water. Seeing they weren't going to get a response out of them for a while, the guild left the exhausted two alone.

The two attacked the water like animals and the sound of vicious gulping of liquid dominated the air. With only a third of the water left, and finally able to breathe without wheezing, one of them finally said something.

Putting down his barrel with a thud the iron dragon slayer snarled out. "Those guys really piss me off." He was glaring at the Sabertooth section at the two fellow dragon slayers.

Natsu who was about to finish his barrel, stopped his movements and turned to Gajeel. He smirked and patted Gajeel on the head. "Don't worry, I doubt anymore of these challenges will have motion junk in them."

Gajeel jerked his head away from the Natsu and pushed his hand away. Natsu laughed but stopped when he glanced at Rogue and Sting. "Who cares about them, Fairy Tail is going to win! Don't worries about those guys th-"

"He called me a newbie at being a Dragon Slayer" Gajeel snarled out. "

Natsu laughed and put his barrel down. "Is that what's bothering you? Ah come on Gajeel stop being so sensitive."

"I don't like how we share so many things in common with those two. I'm not like those guys!" Gajeel's voice was escalating and Natsu began to truly see his friend's disturbance.

"Hey Gajeel calm dow-"

Gajeel snapped his head towards Natsu and with clenched teeth said. "Don't tell me to fucking calm down. That fucker really pissed me off."

"What's so bad at being called a newbie?" Natsu's full attention was now on Gajeel. He could feel the anger radiating off him.

Gajeel didn't reply and instead answered by slamming his fist into the stone wall they were sitting against. The wall cracked and shook from the unexpected assault. With a scowl on his face he said in a deadly tone. "Do you really consider yourself a dragon slayer?"

A frown settled on Natsu's face and he made sure to make eye contact with Gajeel. "Of course I do."

Natsu watched as Gajeel stood himself up and glared at the Sabertooth section. "Well I don't consider myself one. I'm not a dragon slayer, and I never will be one."

Natsu jumped up at that and shouted "How the hell are you not a dragon slayer. You're a first generation dragon slayer, just like me and Wendy."

Gajeel refused to make eye contact with Natsu and instead kept looking at Sabertooth's own dragon slayers.

"So when you finally find Igneel will you kill him?" Gajeel asked and looked at Natsu, whose mouth was now open and confusion etched on his face. "Will you be a true dragon slayer, and kill a dragon when you are faced with one? Even if that dragon is like a father to you? Will you be like them."

The two of them stood in silence and that was enough of an answer for Gajeel. Taking one last look at Natsu he said. "Those are true dragon slayers. We are and will never be them."

"So what are we then!" Natsu yelled.

Gajeel didn't reply and walked towards Fairy Tail B. Natsu stood there and with a scream of rage and confusion he punched the barrel of water. Turning away he walked away, a headache now settling in his head.

* * *

><p>A_N<p>

So if you have read my previous work, then you should know that I usually grab the contents of a chapter and just run away with it. This plot will be nowhere as close to what is going to happen in the manga but hey when my brain starts forming a plot there is no stopping it.

I hope you guys enjoyed the intro of this new story. And if you guys could please be so lovely as to leave a review, with comments, thoughts or even questions you have for this new story. Thanks guys for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

The games were going great so far, well excluding the cheating tactics of Raven Tail. Neither Fairy Tail teams were first place but as each match passed, the spirit to win only grew stronger. Whether they lost or won the match, Fairy Tail proved over the next fights that they put all they had for their guild and comrades.

Maybe it was this constant show of devotion to the guild and each other, was to explain Natsu's actions towards the Sabertooth guild. Such a strong reaction that when his guild heard about it, they all immediately associated it with Natsu's strong willed justice. When they asked if that was the reason, he sternly nodded his head and said nothing else.

But that wasn't the whole story. The guild knew he would do something idiotic, but to strike a master of a guild….that was something entirely different.

Yes, he was upset that a guild would hurt one of its members and he probably would have still gone over and yelled at them. He probably would have even kicked some of the members' asses, but when he attacked the master of Sabertooth, he knew something was off.

The anger that was raging inside him was making him act in ways he wouldn't. He would have taken on the entire guild at that moment. But it wouldn't have been to prove a point; no he attacked all those members because he _needed_ to.

On his way to the building where Sabertooth was lodging, his insides were squirming. Something inside him was enraging him to fight. The feeling when he struck the bastard guild master was exhilarating. But it wasn't enough. He needed to strike again. He had to.

This wasn't the first time this anger had consumed him, it never went away, but when he was around his fellow guild members he made an effort to not show the strong emotion. But as each event passed without any of his participation, his anger grew stronger.

Thankfully in a turn of events, a Sabertooth member had Happy and was threatening to harm him. The danger hanging over his closest friend, instantly broke the furious rage inside him. With Happy in his arms, he turned his back to the guild and walked out. He kept a tight grip on Happy and walked back to his own guild's hotel.

After coming back from Sabertooth's lodgings Natsu saw that Fairy Tail was in mid celebration. They were celebrating Elfman's victory by drinking it up at the bar. After a toast by the master to Elfman, the guild really got the celebration going. The noise level rose dramatically and the strength of the alcohol being passed out was stronger.

Sitting alone at one of the tables, with his legs stretched out on the chair next to him, Natsu gripped his drink tightly as he watched the guild celebrate. Though he usually loved these kinds of parties, right now he just wanted to get out and go let some steam out. The loud noises and people constantly bumping into him, was making him even angrier.

Why he was angry at a celebration, he didn't know. He didn't know exactly when, but somewhere along the past few days, he had been unable to get rid of these angry emotions.

'You're restless' A small voice whispered. He quickly turned but saw that no one was behind him, or even near him for that matter. 'Fight!' The voice demanded at him loud enough that Natsu quickly looked at the people around him, to see if they had heard it too.

Everyone was still celebrating and no one seemed to have heard the voice. He was about to leave the bar when his eyes caught something. Gajeel was standing alone against the wall and his entire posture seemed stiff. Though the posture was odd for the fellow dragon slayer, it was his hand that caught Natsu's attention.

In the dragon slayer's shaking hand was a glass from the bar, but it seemed he had gripped it too tight as several pieces of glass were wedged into his hand and palm. Blood and his alcoholic beverage were mixing together as they dripped from his hand. Gajeel, whose gaze was intensely on his drink, finally looked up and met eye contact with him.

Then was when all hell broke loose.

Natsu ran and jumped over the tables between him and Gajeel and lunged for him. Grabbing him by the shirt, he threw the man with a snarl ripping out of his throat. Instead of flying in the direction he had thrown him, the iron dragon slayer regained his footing and head-butted him with the force that was reserved for battling foes. Natsu felt his skin being torn where Gajeel's metal piercings met his forehead, but instead of feeling pain, he felt adrenaline and joy.

Feeling blood trickling down his eyes, Natsu retaliated by grabbing the back of Gajeel's head and plowing it into the wall, hard enough to where cracks were made. Natsu stepped back and watched as Gajeel brought his head up and faced him with blood freely running down his face. The two dragon slayers smirked at each other, both with an odd smile on their face.

By now the entire bar was looking at the two. When the two first started fighting the guild thought they were roughhousing but their actions proved them wrong. The strength they put into the fight made many look in their directions, and the blood that ran down their faces caused worry in all of them.

But it was the smile on their faces that caused guild members to intervene. This smile was the same one that some guild members recognized on Gajeel from his days as a member of the Phantom Lord. The smile that showed pleasure in destruction and violence.

The two dragon slayers each lunged at each other, the notorious smirk wide on their face, but before either could lay a hand on the other, the guild intervened. Gajeel felt his arms be wretched back and he was pinned to the ground, he tried to stand back up, but weight fell on his back. The weight leaned forward, and soon Laxus' voice was filling his right eardrum. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Get the fuck off me you bastard!" Gajeel snarled. He tried to rips his arms out of his hold but Laxus held him still. "Move again and you'll regret-" He couldn't finish his threat since Gajeel cut him off by throwing his head back and caught him in the mouth. Angry now, Laxus restrained him by tightening his hold and sending a shock, through the dragon slayers body. Looking up, Laxus saw that Erza too was having difficulties restraining Salamander. Calling out to her, he gestured her to follow him.

Getting up, he grabbed the now still Gajeel and pushed his way through the crowd that had surrounded the small group. When he reached the door, he threw the dragon slayer out and stepped aside for Erza to do the same.

Both dragon slayers were spread out on the ground and were slowly standing themselves upright. Laxus was prepared to receive their glares and maybe some cursed words towards him, but he was not prepared for the exhausted looks that were plastered on their faces.

Erza was about to move forward to talk to the two, but she stopped when Natsu turned around and walked away. The three watched him walk away, and a moment later Gajeel followed after him.

"Should we stop them?" She whispered. Laxus silently shook his head no. The two stood there in the doorframe, but were nudged aside when two exceeds went through the door.

"Natsu, where are you going?" Happy yelled after his friend. He was about to take flight when Lily grabbed his tail and pulled him back down. "Let me go! I need to help Natsu!"

Lily kept his grip on Happy's tail and said sternly. "We would only trouble them, our place is here." Happy and Lily watched as the two dragon slayers walked away and hoped that events like tonight would never repeat themselves.

* * *

><p>The two dragon slayers walked through the town in silence. The exhaustion of being angry for so long, had Natsu unable to even want to have a conversation. Gajeel too looked tired, and he wondered if Gajeel was angry like him. Before he could ask Gajeel beat him by asking his own question. "Did you hear it too?"<p>

Natsu felt himself nod. The iron dragonslayer didn't mention anything about the voice but he knew what the other was referring to. "Mine told me to Fight." He said aloud to mostly to himself.

"Is that why you've been so angry these past few days?"

He shrugged in reply. "Have you been feeling any different the past few days? I mean you look like shit, what's your problem"

"I'm not an idiot like you who gets angry over stupid shit." Gajeel mocked but after a few moments said in low voice. "Something though is pulling me away. I've found myself wanting to leave you idiots a couple of times now." He looked up at the clear night sky and for the first time, Natsu truly saw that he wasn't the only one suffering.

"Hey Gajeel what else is wrong with you?"

The iron dragon slayer shook his head at the bluntness of the question, and he was about to answer it, when approaching footsteps were heard. Turning towards the sound of the pounding footsteps, the two were surprised to see a small figure run up to them.

A breathless Wendy stopped in front of them and said between breaths. "It told me… to come with you guys."

No questions were asked because they all knew what she was talking about it. It was weird that this voice was heard from all of them, and they were going to question it for sure. But now something was more important.

'Fight' The voice whispered.

"We all heard that, right." Wendy whispered.

Natsu and Gajeel nodded and the trio stood there silently.

"I could go for some practice right now." Wendy said under her breath. She would never tell the two that she had the urge to punch and kick someone into unconsciousness. The urge that she had been suppressing for the past few days was torture, but tonight she couldn't hold it any longer. She was one step away from joining the bar fight of theirs. She would of course have used her magic and not relied on physical attacks like them, but she still would have fought with the strength reserved for enemies.

She needed to release some energy out. If she didn't then she feared that she would explode!

This urgency is why the trio found themselves in an empty field, standing in the form of a triangle.

Each of them was slightly shaking at the thought of being able to finally release some of their magic. With only Gajeel and Natsu being the only ones who had been in an event, a motion one at that, they were each ready to release some magic.

"Here's how it's going to go. Natsu you will go first and attack me. After Natsu, Wendy you well go next. You two will switch off, until we are done."

"What about you?" Wendy asked. Though her hands were shaking to release her magic, she didn't want Gajeel to be at a disadvantage because he had to be on the defensive side for both of them.

"It's ok, as long you guys hit me with strong enough magic, I will be releasing magic too by defending myself. So don't hold back." He smirked at the two and coated his skin with iron scales. He turned to Salamander and barely had enough time to transform his arm into an iron pillar that was able to protect him from the hot flames that attacked him.

When the flames finally ended, he turned to Wendy and transformed the pillar into Iron God Sword. When Wendy threw her Wing Attack at him, he noted that the winds had definitely gotten stronger but he was still able to split the air down the middle and cause the wind to move into another direction. Taking a deep breath, he turned back and braced himself for the flames.

* * *

><p>The sun was coming out, and Erza and Laxus were in their respected rooms, but both were still waiting for the dragon slayers to come back to their teams. Though it was still early morning, they still had a couple hours till the competition began for the day.<p>

Erza was the first of the two, to be released from the watch. A knock on the door, quickly had her opening it and revealing three exhausted, but relieved, looking dragon slayers. Wendy was asleep in Gajeel's arms, while Natsu was leaning heavily on the wall in the hall. Gajeel to be blunt looked like shit. His face was covered in soot while his air looked like he had walked through a tornado.

Gajeel paid no attention to the look he received from her and carefully passed Wendy down to her. After finally noticing the odd expression on her face he explained. "She's just really tired; make sure she gets some rest and breakfast." He began to walk away but stopped as if remembering something. Turning around he looked at the S class mage and pointed a finger at her. "And that doesn't mean cake."

Closing the door on the two females, Gajeel walked down the hallway and shook Natsu awake. How he fell asleep in that short amount of time was a mystery to him. The fire dragon slayer looked up at him and said in a low tired voice. "How long do we have until the voice comes back?"

Gajeel didn't reply but instead nudged him towards his room. They needed all the rest they could get. Because as much as Gajeel hated to say it, he felt that things were going to get much worse, very fast.

* * *

><p>So if you read my fics before, you know how I just grab an event in the manga and just runaway with it. That's just my writing style, so if you don't like that then you won't like this fic. Also this is Dragonslayer centered fic. It revolves around Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy. There will be a LITTLE bit of fluff here and there but nothing major.<p>

With that out of the way, I hope you guys liked the recent chapter and I'll see you soon. Also a special thank you to Crazyfool65, Ginshi-chan, Al, monstermerawr for your guys reviews!

Any thoughts, comments, or criticism will be greatly appreciated. Alright guys stay lovely.


	3. Chapter 3

Arcadia walked into one of the many locked rooms in the castle. He brought out a key that was connected to a chain around his neck. He began to unlock the first of many locks on the door. When at last the door was able to open, he turned the knob with a wide smile on his face. Inside the heavily guarded room, on a pedestal was a silver box.

He walked towards the lone item in the room and traced his feelings over the box. Chills ran down his body. On the cover of the box were engravings of words of a language that had been long lost. Though he knew the box couldn't open without the words being recited, he still tried to open the box.

"You will be opened, and when you are I will be one step closer." The grin on his face grew wider, and laughter ripped out of his throat. Leaving the room still laughing, he carefully placed on all the locks back on the door. He turned to an open window and stared at the sunset. His hands began shaking and he whispered to himself. "Soon, the eclipse will happen and I will be the strongest man in the world."

'Even stronger than Zeref.' He thought in his mind. This thought made him feel lightheaded and he leaned against a wall. He placed a hand on his forehead and laughed. The thought of the power he would have made him lose focus for a few moments. But a few moments was all it took, for the shadow that was hiding and watching him the entire time to flee.

* * *

><p>The morning after their nightly exercise, the three dragons sat outside at the back of the guild's lodging. They leaned against the wall and though all were showered and had fresh clothes on, they still looked exhausted. Anyone who tried to go near them would receive three weak glares from them that wouldn't even frighten Happy. Though many of the guild members went to check on them had good intentions, most of them came back inside the lodging laughing.<p>

When Happy, Charle, and Lily walked outside, the sight that greeted them was quite hilarious. Three powerful dragon slayers all knowledgeable in a Dragon Magic all had iron clothespins pinched on their noses. Natsu's and Wendy's clothespins had cloth bunched on the ends as their noses weren't coated with iron scales like Gajeel's. When the exceeds asked why they had clothespins on their noses, Gajeel growled them while Wendy tiredly explained that the smell of everyone's breakfast was making them nauseous.

"And those idiots are to fucking loud." Gajeel snarled out. He rubbed his temples harshly and his jaw tightened. Natsu nodded his head while Wendy sighed. "Gajeel they aren't that loud, it's-" Before Wendy could finish defending the rest of the guild a loud cheer was heard from inside.

"Levy was amazing!" Jet's yelled.

"Truly magnificent!" Droy exclaimed.

"We love you Levy!" The two cheered together.

Gajeel glared at the building and glanced at Wendy who was red in the face. Natsu laughed at the events but when Jet and Droy continued to shout, he stopped and pressed his head against the cool wall. He mumbled at how hot it was and how he wanted to sleep.

Wendy heard the mumbles and reassured him. "Today's events start at noon. We can take a four hour nap."

"I didn't know dragons took naps." Lily teased. He elbowed Gajeel in his side, but he ignored the taunt and covered his eyes with his hand.

The exceeds looked at the three and saw that all of them were showing expressions of pain. Natsu had his head pressed against the stone wall in an attempt to hide from the rising sun and get a form of coldness against his head. Wendy mumbled how Troia wasn't helping herself or the other two. If glares could kill, Gajeel would be surrounded by corpses. He was at the moment making small plugs which he a moment later stuffed in his ears. He made two more pairs and offered them to his fellow dragonslayers by stretching his hand to them.

The earplugs were out of his hands in moments and the three of them sat in wonderful silence. Though none of them said anything about beginning to get a headache, the three seemed to have all known that they had headaches.

The moment of silence was ruined however when Levy walked into the back. She came in smiling, but when she looked at the dragonslayers, she frowned. Crouching down, she tapped Gajeel and waited till he removed an earplug. Smiling softly at him, she was going to offer something, but was interrupted when Jet and Droy ran into the back.

"You guys should have seen Levy!"

"She saved-" The two were interrupted when the iron dragon slayer stood up and stared them in the eyes and snarled out. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Everyone was taken back at the violent tone but before anyone could react, Charle spoke up. "Are you two oblivious that Wendy has a headache? If you are going to be loud then go away!"

Though she had iron earplugs, Wendy's heightened hearing made it possible for her to hear Charle defending Gajeel inconspicuously. She smiled at her best friend and stood herself up.

"The sun is moving, and soon our shade here will be gone. Let's all go to the room, and get some sleep before the events begins."

Levy walked up to Gajeel and asked softly. "Is the light hurting your eyes?"

A nod was her answer. "I think you have a migraine." She whispered. "When did you start feeling pain?"

"Since early this morning, came out of nowhere." Gajeel grumbled.

Grabbing his hand, she gestured the other dragon slayers to follow her. "I think I can help you guys." She waved goodbye to Jet and Droy and guided the three dragon slayers to her room.

* * *

><p>"This is nice." Wendy sighed in content. She heard Natsu and Gajeel grunt in agreement. The three of them, plus three exceeds and one script mage were all in Levy's room and slowly drifted off to sleep. Levy had placed a silent script on the window but she left the room and door audible just in case someone needed their attention. But she did place a darkness script everywhere in the room.<p>

Wendy and Charle were laid on one bed while, Natsu and Happy dominated the other. Levy sat on the floor with Gajeel lied out beside her while Lily sat beside them. The dragonslayers were grateful for the dark quiet room, since the raging migraines that inflicted them were now no longer feeling as if their heads were being split open. The room was silent for a few moments as everyone enjoyed it, unfortunately Natsu decided to break it.

"I bet Gajeel and Levy really like this dark room." Natsu snickered and after hearing the sound of surprise from Levy could only laugh harder. Gajeel snarled at him but stopped when a sharp pain hit his head.

"Damn no good pervert." He muttered. He was going to throw another insult but Charle shushed everyone. Taking a deep breath, Gajeel closed his eyes and he almost groaned in pleasure when he felt Levy's hand brushing through his hair and massaged his scalp. The groan turned into a rumble and Gajeel soon fell asleep.

The two dragon slayers too let their heavy eyes fall and soon the room was filled with a mixture of heavy and light snores.

The sound of someone knocking interrupted their sleep far too early. Levy not knowing how Gajeel's head ended up in her lap, gently removed herself from him. She laid his head down on the floor, she was amazed at how he didn't wake from his slumber. Was he that exhausted?

Opening the door, Laxus and Lisanna stood in front of the doorway. She gently closed the door behind her and waited for the two to say something. Lisanna was the one who spoke first and fired a ramble of questions.

"How are they? Do they need something to eat? Mira-nee said she's able to cook something for them and-" Lisanna stopped talking when Levy shook her head at each question and finally had to motion her to be quiet. Levy smiled apologetically at her and explained quietly. "They are feeling nauseous and right now they are suffering from migraines." She stopped and turned to look at Laxus. She looked at him from head to toe and questioned him. "How are you feeling?"

The lightening dragon slayer shrugged and answered. "Other than someone following me everywhere I go, I feel fine." He glanced at Lisanna who smiled at him. The smile set an eerie feeling to him.

"I was in the front of you the entire time while walking up here. So you followed me." Again she smiled at him and Laxus knew that he wouldn't be able to win this argument. He sighed and turned his attention back to the script mage.

"The old man wants to talk to you. Not now but maybe after the events today."

The sight of Levy's frightened face made Lisanna grab her hand, she whispered to her. "There's nothing to be afraid of, he's just worried about the three of them. We all are."

"Everyone is being asked if they've seen anything suspicious regarding the guilds or anyone that's interacted with the three." Laxus added.

Levy looked back to the room that contained the three dragon slayers. She turned to the two and said. "I'll talk to Master right when we return from the games."

* * *

><p>Today was an amazing day for Fairy Tail. Again they showed that this year was different than the past seven. Erza and Cana truly represented Fairy Tail in the event section of the day. Everyone on the Fairy Tail side was on their feet and cheered when Erza and Cana dominated each event.<p>

Even though the stadium behind him was causing his head to ache, Natsu couldn't wipe the face splitting smile on his face. This was the Fairy Tail that everyone knew; this was the guild that was going to win the Grand Games. Fairy Tail is the strongest guild, and people were finally remembering that.

When the stadium's cheers finally died down, the pain in head revealed itself. He flashed Erza a smile when she returned, but he sat himself down next to Wendy. The two sat together in the lone shaded area of their designated Fairy Tail A team area.

He could tell that Wendy was in pain from the migraine and he too was gritting his teeth in order to retain a passive face in front of the others. Lucy was casually throwing glances at the both of them and her eyebrows were furrowed in worry. Natsu threw her a smile every time he caught her looking at him and Wendy. Though it felt like his head was splitting in two and a constant ache was in his temples, he kept the smile on his face. He didn't want to worry the team; it was just a headache anyways.

He watched the battles and he tried to pay attention. The constant noises and yells of attacks would cause him to close his eyes in pain and make him not see the attack. When Laxus was called, he quickly glanced up to the area of Fairy Tail B. Laxus was walking with confidence to the middle of the arena. The man in metal from Raven Tail stood there and Natsu was actually excited to see the match.

He glanced at Fairy Tail B and saw all three girls watched with smiles at the matchup. Gajeel stood in the back, he leaned against the wall his body tense. His eyes darted around the stadium as if looking for someone. The look of panic looked strange on the iron dragon slayer usual passive face.

Natsu looked away from Gajeel when the sound of bone meeting flesh was heard. He turned back to the match, and was shocked to see the man in the suit kicking Laxus' ass. Though his head was now on a whole new level of pain; he couldn't look away from the one sided battle. Wendy had long given up and instead buried her face in his arm with her hands over her ears.

He lifted his arm to comfort her, but something pierced the air. His hand stopped but then flew to his ears. He pressed his hands to his ear in a futile attempt to block out the sound.

That sound. The sound he hadn't heard what felt like years, but it still woke him up at nights.

Wendy was shaking terrible and was screaming for it to stop. She buried her face into his chest and screamed for help. Natsu wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he couldn't stand to take his hands off his ears.

The sound continued and when he looked up, he saw that his team stared at him and Wendy with bewilderment on their faces. Didn't they hear the earpiercing scream that was echoing throughout the entire stadium?

The pain in his head was nothing now compared to the pain erupting in his ears. The pain was scaling down and soon his whole body was in excruciating pain. He bit his bottom till it bled, in an attempt to keep the scream in.

Wendy tried but her bloodcurdling scream was released. The scream never faltered and if anything got stronger and louder. It seemed to pierce them and reverberate throughout their bodies. The scream was attacking them internally. He wanted to help her but he knew there was nothing he could do.

He looked around and he saw that Lucy and Erza tried to talk to them but their voices were just merging with one another. Gray looked at the stadium and tried to scout a potential enemy that was causing his teammates pain.

"Gajeel!" Levy's scream was heard.

Natsu looked across the stadium and his gaze fell on his fellow dragon slayer. He could barely see him, with Juvia, Mirajane and Cana surrounding him. His hands covered his ears and blood flowed from his temples where his fingers pierced at. Juvia talked to talk to him, while Cana and Mirajane attempted to get his fingers off his temples and avoid any more self harm. The three women were occupied by Gajeel that they did not see the approaching figure.

Wendy finally unburied herself from Natsu to look in the direction of his gaze. She saw the man walk towards Gajeel and she felt fear swallow her. The man wasn't right. His eyes were large and an eerie grin was plastered on his face. He stared at Gajeel who was shaking in pain as if he was looking at the most amazing thing in the world. He walked closer to him and the three women still did not notice him.

With the battle still happening and the three dragonslayers now all in pain, chaos unleashed in the Fairy Tail section. She stood up and though the pain racked her body, she uncovered her ears to cup her mouth and screamed. "GET AWAY FROM GAJEEL!"

The women turned to Wendy and saw the approaching figure. Juvia looked at the Sabertooth mage and stood in front of her team. Standing in an offense stance she threatened him. "Juvia will hurt you if you get any closer."

The man ignored her and instead looked over her to see the iron dragonslayer again. His smile grew he stammered out. "G-Gajeel." He took a step closer but was blown back when an attack of air lifted him off his feet. Bewildered he looked up to see a small child and the fire dragonslayer in front of him. The child attacked him with another gust of wind.

"Get away from him!" She snarled at him. She shook like a leaf and tears were in her eyes. She gripped her ears and pulled at her hair. She opened her eyes and seeing the mage still there she screamed in a mixture of pain and anger.

Rogue barely had any time to pull himself up and dodge the fire that was aimed at him. He looked up and finally broke out of his daze. He gripped his head and turned to look where the hell he was. He turned towards where the fire came and saw two enraged Fairy Tail A team members glaring at him.

"Go back to your area now!" Salamander spat at him. His hand held a small flame that with a twitch of his hand could turn into an inferno. Rogue stood himself upright and activating his magic, he vanished to the arena's shadows.

The crowd, who watched the battle and was not aware of the drama within the teams' area, stood up and cheered. Laxus stood there in the center of the arena, hands in the air as he held the head of the suit. He was bruised and bloody but the smile on his face could not be phased. The announcer was going crazy as the face of man in armor was finally revealed.

* * *

><p>More chaos was erupting but thankfully a pair of hands guided the three dragonslayers through several secret tunnels through the arena. She wanted to avoid the crowds at all costs. When Mavis led the three outside, she waited for Marakov. When he emerged towing Laxus, the group quickly went to Porlyusica. Wendy, Natsu and Gajeel never said a word the entire trip. Mavis never let go of their hands and she worried for them.<p>

Laxus whose injuries were slowly pulling him into unconsciousness, kept repeating to Makarov that there was something he needed to tell them. When asked what it was about, he pointed a bloody shaky finger to the three dragonslayers. He fell limp after that and Makarov ran the rest of the way to get his grandson medical aid.

He no longer trusted anyone working for these grand games. The medics working there were now potential enemies, nobody could be trusted.

* * *

><p>The group was finally settled in the room and Porlyusica had done everything she could. Makarov was sitting on his grandson's bed, waiting for him to gain consciousness. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel were all laid on the floor, enjoying the cool tile more than the soft beds. They refused to talk about what happened and they refused to be separated.<p>

Makarov was filled with worry and he stared down at his hands trying to figure what the hell happened. The room was silent but the rousing of the three caught his attention. He turned to them and saw that they were all walking towards the door.

"Hey brats where do you think you are going?"

The three stopped and faced him. Makarov almost winced when he saw how exhausted they all looked. Dark bags were under all their eyes and they leaned as if standing straight was just too much work. His children were a mess and he felt like a horrible parent.

"We need to do something, we will be back." Natsu muttered loud enough for him to hear. He didn't wait to hear his response and walked out the door. Gajeel followed and had to grab Wendy's hand and guide her through the door. Makarov looked at Mavis whose cheeks were puffed out in anger. She looked at Makarov and said with authority. "I'm going to shadow them, just to make sure they are safe."

The third master nodded and turned to the first. "Thank you." Mavis nodded and quickly left after the three dragon slayers.

Fifteen minutes passed before a heavy and rapid knock was heard. The person didn't wait for a response and ran in. A heavy breathing Levy ran in and gasped to catch her breath. She stared at Makarov and tried to get the words out. She whispered with a few tears sliding down her face.

"Master I think I helped someone hurt Gajeel Wendy and Natsu."

* * *

><p>Thank you everyone who has favorited, alerted this story. Hope I don't disappoint you! Also a special thank you to CrazyFool65,AquaTitaniaMiyuki, reddevil47, darkhuntressxir, Ginshi-chan for all your lovely reviews. I hope everyone has a lovely day and any thoughts, comments or criticism will be appreciated.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

"We were walking back to the guild, Droy, Jet and I. We saw a crowd of people all looking at something. They all looked worried and some even scared." Levy took a shaky breath. She was standing in front of Makarov who was seated next to a still sleeping Laxus. Makarov nodded at her to continue.

"Droy and Jet ran over to see if they could help, they told me to stay back, but of course I didn't listen to them. While running over there, a person in the middle of the crowd began screaming for someone who knew how to read scripts. The man was frantically looking through the crowd and I recognized him as a Raven Tail mage. He was the one who participated in the race. He seemed to glance at me. I just thought it was lucky timing that I was there...how could I have been so stupid." Her hand tugged her hair while the other balled into a fist.

"Levy I need to know what happened." Master reprimanded. The blue head mage nodded slowly, guilt clearly showing on her face. "I ran to the middle of the circle while Jet and Droy made the crowd step back. A woman, no the woman of Raven Tail was on the ground. A choker was on her throat. A script was on it. I didn't even bother to think." She slammed her fist against the wall.

"The script was nothing I've ever seen before but I worked around it. The choker kept getting tighter and the woman wasn't breathing for a while. I placed scripts on it nullifying it. I used every script I knew, in order to save that woman. I was just working on instinct. Before I knew it, I had scripted an ancient spell." She stopped and hung her head down. Countless hours of reading and learning new powerful scripts was now being used against her.

"The choker just fell from her neck and onto the ground. And I know it sounds weird but the moment it was released, I got the ugliest feeling throughout my body. I felt like I had released something very dangerous and something very evil. I should have stayed and asked questions but the crowd started cheering. Jet and Droy were congratulating me and the members of Raven Tail and the collar were gone before I knew it. I noticed several things but the crowd caused me to be distracted. I should have come to you the first thing when I came to the lodging. I shouldn't be making excuses. I should have stopped them and ask how they ended up in the situation."

Sighing and wringing her hands she looked nervously at Makarov. "Whatever I unleashed, I feel like it is somehow affecting Wendy, Natsu, and Gajeel. They were ill in the morning, and it didn't start till this morning. And after today's event-."

Tears began to fall down and she avoided eye contact from Makarov. "I know Raven Tail did something to those three and I helped them. They needed that script to be nullified and I did that for them. Everything was planned and I don't know what I unleashed. But I know it is evil and it is hurting the ones I love."

The guild master remained silent for a few moments. He nodded to himself and jumped off the bed. Walking over to the script mage, he gently took her hand and walked her to the door.

"You have been tricked and are now part of what is going on. We cannot change the past, but we can certainly choose the path for the future. Be aware of your surroundings and make only wise decisions from now on. Thank you Levy for coming to tell me what happened. If anything else occurs please tell me. And one last thing before you go, please look out for those three." With that said he gently led Levy outside.

When he came back, he glanced at Laxus and ordered. "Okay brat you can stop faking. Hurry up and tell me what happened today."

The blonde opened his eyes and turned to him.

"Iwan is planning something for the dragon slayers." Laxus bluntly told him. Makarov at the moment was glad that Laxus was always straightforward. "He brought out a silver box. There was a script on it I've never seen. I'm sure it was the script that the girl was talking about earlier."

"What did he do with the box?"

"He opened it, just a little. I didn't think anything happened until I turned towards our section. I saw all the dragon slayers were in pain. I asked him what he was doing to them and he just laughed at me." Laxus sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"That box when opened harms them. I tried to get it but one his shikigamis took it before I could. We need to get that box and we need to question him."

"I will do that right away." Makarov promised. He stood up and walked towards the door. He stopped though when he heard movement from the bed. Turning he saw Laxus was throwing his shirt on.

"I'm coming with you." Laxus said it as if stating a fact.

Makarov sighed and gestured for him to hurry up.

"Where did the first master go?"

"She went to go watch over the dragon slayers."

* * *

><p>"NO!" Gajeel and Natsu yelled together. They were standing side by side and were glaring down at the smaller figure in front of them.<p>

"I'm going! This will be my first battle and I'm not missing it. You two got to go in an event, it's my turn!" Wendy retaliated. Though she would have usually listened to her elders, right now she was dead set in going back to the Games when she learned that she was participating today.

"What if that noise comes back during your battle? We won't be able to break any rules just to save you." Natsu declared.

Wendy scoffed and turned her head away from them. "Yeah right, like you guys listen to the rules anyways."

Natsu and Gajeel opened their mouth to retort but nothing came out. "Well she's not lying." Gajeel muttered.

Natsu sighed and threw his hands in the air. "Fine you can go, but you have to be careful. We will be watching. And make sure you come back to the guild area right after the battle!"

Wendy rolled her eyes at the warnings and orders. She didn't know why she was being so disrespectful.

"FIGHT!" The voice demanded in her ear. She glanced at the other two, and saw that they didn't seem to hear anything. She bit her lip in worry. "GO NOW!" The voice screamed at her and caused her to flinch.

"Come on guys let's get going then." She exclaimed.

* * *

><p>Wendy and her competitor were besting one another at each move. Gajeel and Natsu watched from their respective areas and were sure to keep their eye out for any strange activities.<p>

Gajeel made sure to keep a watchful eye on Rogue. The bastard had tried to attack him when he was down. According to Wendy and Natsu, the mage had a crazed look on his face as he made his way towards him. He was always such a little creepy little bastard. Well not in the beginning.

When he was Gajeel's apprentice, Rogue would always talk about the time he had with his caretaker, a dragon he refused to name. The kid was taught in the ancient dragon magic of shadows, and the kid was a natural. Gajeel hated to admit it, but he had some good times with that kid.

But of course all good times had to end. The day that Rogue had told him that he was planning to get Lacima implanted to him, was the last day Rogue was his apprentice. A heated argument erupted and somewhere along the yells and screams, Gajeel learned that Rogue killed his dragon guardian.

Never before had he felt so sick than at that moment. Even when Rogue left, the feeling of sickness stayed with him for several days. Just the idea of killing your parent in order to become a true dragon slayer made his stomach drop.

He couldn't imagine ever hurting Metalicana. He owed his life to that dragon. He would fight to the death in order to protect him. And he knew Natsu and Wendy would do the same for their respected dragons.

He watched the battle and his eyes glanced from the pink headed idiot, to Wendy. His body was tense and though he was proud several times for Wendy's throughout her battle, he couldn't stop looking around.

He knew someone was watching him.

Before his eyes could go back to the battle, he felt something crawl on his neck. Before his hand could rise, an eerie voice whispered in his ear. "Gajeel-kun."

This was the voice that still came in his nightmares, the voice that sent chills down his body. The voice of Iwan Dreyar.

His breathing hitched and his eyes scanned all around him in order to find the Raven Tail master or even a shikigama.

"Don't be scared Gajeel-kun. Just relax."

His body did the opposite of that and tensed visibly.

"Since it seems you don't like my company. I'm going to make this quick. Meet me tonight. Just follow my shikigama and I promise you that none of your little friends will be hurt." The voice became harsher and it sounded as if going through clenched teeth. "And if you don't show, Gajeel-kun, I swear that you will see all your friends die in front of you. Don't make me be the bad guy here Gajeel-kun. It would be such a shame to hurt such a petite pretty face. Levy is her name, correct"

His heartbeat rose and he looked towards the crowd where he saw Levy entering the stands. Her eyes were puffy and red as she chose a seat away from the guild. Why the hell did she choose to be isolated at this time!

"Such a fragile pretty neck, she has. As a matter of fact, many of your guild members have such fragile necks."

Gajeel turned to the Fairy Tail seating area and saw that on various places of their clothing, several guild members had small shikigama on them. On their shoes, sleeves, pants, and even on their shirt.

"Did you know I can make my shikigama explode?" Iwan's voice asked in glee.

Looking at his guild with threats literally on them, was enough to make Gajeel answer. "I'll go." He whispered loud enough for only he could hear.

The feeling on his neck disappeared and the voice was gone. He looked up at Levy and saw that Jet and Droy were dragging her to the guild seating area. Finally those idiots were doing something good. Gajeel let out a breath and when he turned he saw that Natsu was staring at him with a serious gaze.

* * *

><p>Natsu was worried when he learned that Wendy's competitor was a God Slayer. The memories of Zancrow came to mind, and he stared at the Sky God. She seemed to be sane at first, but then the match began. The same crazed look that Zancrow had was on the girl's face and that made him fearful for Wendy's safety.<p>

When the Sky God mage unleashed her strongest move, he looked over at Gajeel. He was expecting to see him glaring at the match but instead he saw a look of fear on his face. His eyes were staring ahead, but it didn't look like he was staring at anything.

He kept staring at him and he watched as Gajeel visibly relaxed and began to look around him. When he returned eye contact with him, Gajeel paled and looked away.

He knew at that moment that something was wrong.

'Protect.' A small voice whispered to him. This voice was different from the other one that demanded them to fight. This voice was calm and it made him feel safe.

He was going to look back at Gajeel but the sounds of the battle made him look. He barely made it to see Wendy, dodge a massive attack and attack the God Slayer. The attack did minimal damage and the two young girls began to deliver attacks until a bell rang throughout the stadium.

"OUT OF TIME!" The host announced.

Though Natsu wanted to run in the middle of the arena and grab Wendy out of there, he restrained himself. He watched the Sky God heal Wendy and how they smile at one another.

For some reason he didn't trust that girl. Something was wrong with her.

* * *

><p>Gajeel and Natsu stood in silence as they waited for Wendy. They both knew there was plenty to talk about, but something kept distracting them. A horrid smell was in the air, and it seemed that only they were able to smell it. The guild took no notice of the horrid smell and a quick glance at the Sabertooth guild showed that their dragon slayers were fine.<p>

The smell was stronger in the crowd of people so the two decided to wait outside the arena. The two dragon slayers stayed at the edge of the crowd and waited till Wendy made their way to them. When Wendy finally came to them with a large smile across her face the two dragon slayers couldn't help but smile back.

"How do you feel Wendy?" Natsu asked with a smile.

"I feel great!" She exclaimed.

"Does that mean you won't come with us tonight?" Gajeel asked. He looked down at her and momentarily lost his composed face. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled in confusion as he stared at the tear stained face of Wendy.

"I can't go with you guys tonight?" Wendy said in a heartbroken tone. She looked back and forth from the two male dragon slayers who both had confused and alarmed expressions.

"No Wendy we didn't say you couldn't go!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah calm down, we were just asking! Stop crying now!" Gajeel added.

Wendy immediately stopped crying and looked up in alarm at the two. She quickly wiped the tears away and her face was beginning to blush. She stammered out. "I'm sorry I don't know why I started to cry. I didn't even know I was." She wiped her face again and dried all the tears on her face.

The confused and alarmed expressions stayed on the male dragon slayers as they stared down at Wendy.

It was Gajeel who broke the silence by patting Wendy roughly on the head and said. "You did well today, so let's get go back to the guild. I need a drink now."

* * *

><p>The guild was in high spirits and the three dragon slayers were actually participating in the celebration. Though they all went to separate areas of the guild, in an hour's time they found one another a mere foot away from one another. They didn't comment on it, but they were all aware of the feeling of need from each other.<p>

Wendy was talking to Lisanna, who was trying to convince her to go barrel surfing with her, when something overcame her and she fell to her knees. She dropped the cup in her hand, and before anyone could complain of expenses and repairs, panic overtook the guild.

"Wendy are you alright?"

"Natsu what's wrong?"

"Gajeel talk to me."

Everyone was crowding the three, who were now pale, sweating, and shaking. They stared straight ahead, eyes wide and neither moved a muscle from where they sat. Wet towels were pressed down on their foreheads but they did not react to them or the questions of concern.

Chaos was beginning to occur as worry and panic collided. Erza, Gray, and Lucy were trying to get the guild back in order and to give room to the three. When they finally seemed to get the crowd to calm down, Erza commanded the guild to get some rest.

A few minutes later, the three dragon slayers, Levy, Lucy, Erza, Lisanna, Gray, and the exceeds were the only ones remaining in the room. The others stared at the three, and dread began to fill them.

"They're not responding to anything, and they're all staring straight ahead." Lucy announced to the others.

"They're getting worse by the day it seems. They seem fine one moment and the next moment they're in pain or in a daze." Gray thought aloud.

"Someone is hurting them." Levy whispered. She kneeled down in front of Gajeel and placed another cloth on his neck. "Has anyone seen Master?"

All of them shook their heads. The next few moments were in silence as everyone in the room stared down at the dragon slayers.

The silence was heavy and laced with fear and dread.

Thankfully the silence was broken when Mystogan entered the guild. He was out of breath and it looked like he ran all the way there. Though he looked exhausted, he ran straight towards the dragon slayers. He cursed when he saw the state they were in.

"Everyone in this room is going to stay here. Our priority is going to protect these three" He stopped and pointed at Lucy "and her."

"What's going on?" Levy asked.

"No questions right now. You four will go to a room where one of us will be with you at all times. Everyone else will be guarding all the entrances to this guild. Erza you have first watch of the four, we will change in an hour."

Erza walked forehead to pick up Wendy, but stopped when the dragon slayer gasped and arched off the wall. Natsu and Gajeel did the same a moment later, and all three were coughing and trying to regulate their breathing.

"Take them to a room now!" Mystogan ordered.

Erza, Gray, and Lily each grabbed a dragon slayer and placed them into the biggest room upstairs. Lucy, Charle, and Happy followed behind. The remaining mages quickly obeyed all orders Mystogan was yelling out.

* * *

><p>Iwan walked into the small building and took the third door to the right. Opening the door he was greeted to the faces of Cheila and Arcadia.<p>

Before he could even give a formal greeting, the knight rudely shouted at him. "The box! Where is the box? Were you able to open it? Tell me!"

"Shut up, you annoy me." Iwan snapped at him. With a snap of his fingers a shikigama appeared carrying the silver box. The floating paper stopped in front of him and held out to box him. Iwan smiled at it and took the box. Turning to Arcadia he walked to him and gently passed the silver box to him. When he went to grab it, Iwan grabbed his wrist and clenched it tightly. Cheila stood up but a glare from Iwan made her sit back down. Giving his attention back to Arcadia he growled out.

"When I hand this over to you, I expect you to protect it with your life. Our plan means nothing if you damage what is inside this box. And if you damage what is inside this box, I will be sure to make your death is slow and painful."

He let go of the other's wrist and smiled at him. "Now where is the Celestial mage?"

Arcadia still massaging his wrist turned and nodded his head to the back of the room. Iwan walked towards the direction and stopped when he saw the still body. He looked closer and soon the room was filled with tension.

"What the hell did you do?" Iwan yelled. He turned to the only two people in the room. Arcadia and Cheila both stepped back and their faces expressed the fear they were feeling.

"You only had one job! Get a celestial mage, and what the hell do you do? You break her hands! How do you expect her to open the gate when she can't move her hands you imbeciles!"

"But we got the keys and there is still one more celestial mage in the games. Lucy Heartfilia, of Fairy Tail. She will be the one that will complete the task."

A wide smile came on Iwan's face and turning towards the two he asked in an excited face. "Of Fairy Tail, did you say?"

They both nodded in return. The smile got wider and a chuckle bursted from his mouth. The chuckles grew louder and soon he was laughing like a maniac. Arcadia and Cheila cowered from him and when he turned towards them they grew tense.

Iwan without a word produced a shikigama that flew from the room and out of the building. Before the two could say anything, he vanished in a flurry of shikigama.

Arcadia and Cheila stood there in silence and until they felt they were alone did she say. "Are we still going with Zeref's plan?"

"Of course, Iwan is merely a pawn. Because we have this" He brought out the silver box. "And we have the keys. When we have the Fairy Tail girl, the twelve Zodiac Keys will be completed. The Eclipse Plan will be activated, and we will be the strongest in the world."

The crazed power hungry look came on Cheila's face and she smiled at Arcadia.

* * *

><p>"Gajeel-kun follow me."<p>

Gajeel woke up instantly and looked around him. He saw the piece of paper, wave at him underneath the door. Looking around he saw Natsu and Wendy were still asleep and the person in charge of the hour was Gray. The shikigama floated outside and waited for him. Getting up he stretched and made his way to the door.

He only made it three steps before Gray called out to him. "Hey where the hell do you think you're going?"

He turned around and yawned out. "I need to take a piss. I'll be back in a minute." He saw that the ice mage was going to argue and he jokingly said. "I don't think Juvia will like it when I tell her that her precious Gray-sama was so insistent in accompanying me to the bathroom."

Gray rolled his eyes and told him to make it quick. The moment he left the room, he ran to the nearest window and jumped out. When he hit the dirt, he began to run and soon the shikigama was in front of him and leading him.

The piece of paper led him to a familiar area and taking a moment to look around he saw that it was the area that the dragon slayers were releasing magic at.

"So good to see you again, Gajeel-kun."

Gajeel turned and though he tried to remain calm, his body went to a defensive stance. He watched as Iwan carelessly walked up to him and invaded his personal space.

"Gajeel-kun you haven't changed at all over these past seven years!" He smiled at him. When Gajeel didn't smile back, his face grew serious. "You are going to do something for me." Iwan reached out to grab his arm but Gajeel dodged it. Backing away he growled out. "Don't touch me."

Iwan looked at him for a moment and suddenly began to laugh. He stopped suddenly and said in a deadly tone. "Looks like I need to remind you what guild you actually belong to. You are Raven Tail mage, and its time you come home."

* * *

><p>Thank you so much to Crazyfool65, darkhuntressxir, reddevil47, Zombiegirl,Ginshi-chan, Guest1, Guest2, GGCharms, and Awesomekitty for reviewing. You guys are awesome. Ok so I will try to get better at updating and hope to update sometime next week.<p>

Any thoughts, comments, or criticism will be greatly appreciated. Alright guys stay lovely.

P.S- This is a dragonslayer centered story, so there will be romance but there will be little hints. Kinda like what the manga does. lol


	5. Chapter 5

Natsu was lulled from his slumber by the sound of the door opening. Acting on instinct he jumped in front of a sleeping Wendy in a defensive stance. His eyes finally catching up to his instinct, he saw that it was only Gajeel. His body relaxing he jumped back onto his respected bed. Though he was exhausted and ready to drop, something was telling him to stay awake.

He watched the iron dragon slayer sit on the floor and lean his head against the wall. Natsu felt that something was wrong and he quickly scanned the other, in search for any injuries. He didn't spot any but that still didn't settle his worry.

Tired of not knowing, he asked in a hushed voice. "Gajeel what the hell is wrong with you."

Gajeel rolled his eyes at him and answered in annoyed tone. "Well for starters, an idiot isn't letting me sleep."

The fire dragonslayer scoffed and tried to insult the other back but he cut him off. "Just go to sleep Salamander. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day."

Before he could question further, a knock on the door stopped him. The door opened to reveal Master, who had a serious expression on his face. Behind him was the first master, who went to wake up Wendy. Everyone immediately gave them their attention.

"Due to Raven Tail's disqualification, Fairy Tail Team A and B will merge into one team. Gajeel and Natsu you will be part of this team, Wendy you did a marvelous job but you will not be on the team."

Wendy nodded and though she looked disappointed she turned to her fellow dragon slayers. "I'll cheer for you two the loudest!" She said with a smile.

"Natsu, Gajeel, you will be fighting Sabertooth's dragon slayers tomorrow. I expect you two to represent Fairy Tail at its finest."

"You got it old man!" Natsu exclaimed with excitement. Gajeel however remained silent except for a nod. Makarov paused to stare at him but he spotted Mystogan waiting in the hallway. He bid all three dragon slayers goodnight and closed the door.

He and Mavis walked towards the clothed man and asked. "What is going on?"

"I discovered that there is planning revolving around the three dragon slayers, along with the Celestial mage."

Mavis' hands turned into fists and she turned to Makarov and said with authority. "Whoever is planning this knows about the Dragon Festival. We have to protect those four with our lives." With a deep breath she closed her eyes and said in a slight fearful tone. "Tomorrow will be the day that determines the path of the future."

* * *

><p><em>The furious expression on Iwan's face disappeared and he said with an outstretched hand to the dragon slayer. "Gajeel-kun I don't like to hurt my children." He took a step forward which made the other take three steps back. "It hurts me when I see that you don't trust me."<em>

_Gajeel said nothing and instead transformed his arm into an iron sword. Standing in an offensive stance he watched his every move. Iwan threw his hands in the air and said slowly and softly. "I'm not the one you should be watching out for. My father is a man of many secrets. Has he told you or the others about the prophecy? Has he told you the true meaning of these guild games?"_

"_Stop talking." Gajeel growled._

"_How are you feeling lately Gajeel-Kun? You haven't heard that awful sound lately have you The one that makes all three dragon slayers cover their ears in pain?"_

_Iwan smirked when he saw Gajeel's reaction. "Any headaches today?" He took a step forward but stopped when the dragon slayer pointed the sword to him. With a sad smile he looked at him in the eye and declared. "I will tell you what is going to happen tomorrow because I actually care about you. Your two teams will merge into one and tomorrow you and Salamander will go against Sabertooth's dragon slayers. Before your match Salamander, that little girl, and you, will be captured. Then-"_

"_Why! Why is this happening!" Gajeel interrupted the Raven Tail master._

_Iwan smiled and walked up to him and said something so quietly that Gajeel was only able to hear it due to his enhanced hearing. His eyes went wide, and his body grew tense. He stared down at the man, and he felt like he was going to be sick. _

Someone shaking him and yelling in his ear woke him from his daze. It took him a second to remember that he was at the guild games and he was about to participate in a duel match. He couldn't stop thinking about what Iwan told him. So far everything he said came true. This only made him worry since Iwan told him that there would be attempts to capture them.

Before he could back to getting lost in his thoughts, his partner slapped him on the back. "Hey we're next!" Natsu announced with a wide grin. "Nice headband by the way." The grin turned into a smirk and he gave him a knowing look. "So you and Levy huh?"

Before Gajeel could respond the announcer called out their opponents names.

Natsu and Gajeel watched as Rogue and Sting entered the center of the arena. They were clearly the crowd's favorite and they were obviously enjoying it. They turned away; no longer able to stomach seeing the two flirt with the crowd.

They stood there in the tunnel in silence. Gajeel glanced at his partner and said with a tense smirk. "Are you ready for this Salamander?"

"I don't know. Something feels wrong but I-"

The sound of something hissing was heard and Natsu's instincts took over. He grabbed Gajeel and threw him to the ground. The sound of something snapping was heard. They quickly got up and ran. He looked behind him to see chains that were once in the air, now coming at them again.

"Is this part of the due-?" He stopped when something wrapped around his throat and dragged him to the floor. He immediately tried to burn the chains but his fire did nothing. If anything the chain got tighter. Looking down, he saw a script on the chain and knew it must have enchanted to be immune to fire. He was yanked away but Gajeel caught him by the leg and ripped through the chains. He coughed and massaged his sore and bruised neck.

"What the hell was that!" He yelled. He looked up at the iron dragon slayer and he saw that the other had a fearful expression.

"Iwan was right." He heard the other whisper to himself. Gajeel stood there in shock for one more moment before he turned towards the audience. "Fuck this tournament, we have to get Wendy and get the hell out of here!" He exclaimed. Though he wasn't sure what was going on, Natsu nodded and they both sprinted outside. The moment their feet touched the arena, a force grabbed them by the front of their shirts. They struggled but they couldn't stop. The force pushed them into the center of the arena where Rogue and Sting were waiting. Gajeel turned around and tried to sprint out but ran face first into a script barrier. He punched against it, but it remained intact.

Natsu tried to sprint out of it too but he was in the same situation. "Do you think those two are affected by it?" He nodded to the two Sabertooth mages.

"There's only one was to find out." Gajeel said with a mischievous smile. Natsu smiled back and faced Sting, who was waving and throwing kisses to the crowd. With quick actions, he took a deep breath and attacked him with his Dragon Roar. The unexpected attack met its target and Sting flew out of the barrier. Rogue watched but did not move to help his partner.

Natsu turned to Gajeel with a smirk. He wanted to smile back but this was really bad news. Remembering what Iwan told him, he turned to the audience and looked Levy. She was cheering and screaming his name, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the middle of the arena at an empty spot.

"The audience is seeing an allusion. It's going to happen." He said numbly.

"What's going to happen!" Natsu demanded.

Gajeel turned to him and said with a thin smile on his face. "They're going to unleash the dragons today. The dragons are finally coming back."

* * *

><p>Thank you everyone who reviewed last time; Crazyfool65, GGCharms, Ginshi-chan, Darkhuntressxir, Reddevil47, and Guest! You guys are awesome and I will see you next time.<p>

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	6. Chapter 6

Wendy and Levy sat on the first row of the sitting arena. Wendy shouted for her two fellow dragon slayers and Levy joined in when they finally came out and walked into the arena. A blonde head caught the script mage's attention and she shouted. "Lucy over here!"

The celestial mage turned towards the voice and her face lit up when she saw the two mages. She maneuvered her way through the crowd and when she finally sat down Levy raised her eyebrows in surprise. Leaning towards her friend she whispered. "I'm surprised no one is with you. Mirajane is watching Wendy from two rows up." A quick glance showed that Levy was speaking the truth.

"I don't know who, but I'm sure someone is watching me at the moment. Master tried to convince me to stay but I couldn't miss this match."

Looking around her, she saw that no one was absent from the Fairy Tail guild. Even Elfman was here sitting alongside Evergreen. She peeked over where Wendy was sitting alongside the three exceeds. She noticed Happy kept glancing at Charle, and now Wendy noticed too. The two watched the exceed try to gather the courage to ask a question in amusement.

"You wanna go watch the match from the sky?" Happy finally asked with a wide smile. Charle looked at Happy then to Wendy who smiled at her. With a sigh she shrugged her shoulders and flew upwards. She couldn't help blush when she heard the trio of girls began to giggle and whisper. Lily just smirked but kept his eyes on the middle of the arena.

"I have a feeling this is going to be the most exciting battle yet!" Wendy shouted in excitement. The girls smiled and looked down in the middle of the arena. Gajeel and Natsu were facing in the Fairy Tail area and were smiling proudly before the match. Natsu was waving excitingly to the crowd while Gajeel just stood there with his arms crossed. His forehead was bare and the headband that she gave him was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't even tucked into one of his pockets.

Levy's face fell when Gajeel just stood there not even looking at her. She frowned and the hand that was raised to wave at him fell. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

The script mage's face reddened and she said in a hushed voice. "It's nothing really." Lucy stared harder at her friend until she finally cracked. "I gave Gajeel my lucky headband to wear and he promised to wear it…but-"

Lucy's smile fell too when she saw the headband was nowhere to be seen. She placed her hand over her friend's and gave it a supporting grin. Looking at the two dragon slayers she focused on Natsu. He was laughing and waving at the crowd. Normal behavior for Natsu before an ordinary match. But this wasn't an ordinary match, this match Natsu had something to prove. Natsu wanted to beat the Saber Tooth guild and he wouldn't be acting like this. He would be serious; he wouldn't act carefree before this match.

"Something's off." She said softly.

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><p>They had a few moments before the match began and Gajeel wasn't wasting any time. He grabbed his partner by the neck and pulled him to the farthest point in the arena. In a rushed voice he whispered.<p>

"Salamander you have to trust me on this plan okay. The moment we lose I need you to get Wendy and Lucy and get the fuck out of here. Don't stop just get the kid and bunny girl and bail out?"

"Who the hell is saying I'm going to lose?" Natsu exclaimed. Gajeel shushed him and snapped at him. "Shut the hell up!" He stopped talking in order to not speak angrily. He didn't know if he was going to have another chance to talk to Salamander. He didn't want their last conversation spoken in anger.

"Listen Natsu. I was warned that the dragons were coming today and an enemy was going to try to get bunny girl. I need you to take them to safety and protect them. The faster we lose this match, the more time you have to run."

"Can I at least punch Sting one time?" Natsu pouted. "And then I swear I'll leave to go get Wendy and Lucy."

Before Gajeel could reply, the voice that they had been hearing roared at them. 'FIGHT' 'KILL THEM NOW.' Both dragon slayers would be lying if they said they didn't shiver at the voice. Natsu looked at Gajeel and waited for the other to say something.

"The person didn't explain much. But it's for the best if you leave and protect the two." Though he tried to persuade the thick headed Natsu that this was for the best, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think what Iwan said. The enemy, he didn't explain who, needed only one of the three. The Raven Tail master gave this information to him, hoping that Gajeel would betray either Wendy or Natsu.

But Gajeel was going to do just the opposite. He was going to give the two of them as much time as possible to run.

"Ok right when I see you fall, I'll lose too. Once the match is over I'll get out of here." The fire dragon slayer said seriously. Gajeel nodded and the two stood in silence for a couple moments. "I felt like something crazy was going to happen today. But dragons coming? I didn't expect that. I thought all the dragons were gone since that one day." His mouth fell into a deep frown. "Sometimes I feel like he never left me. I don't know what I'm going to do if I see him today.

Gajeel said nothing but instead nodded. He agreed to everything he was saying and to everything he wasn't. They were dragon slayers. When faced with a dragon they were supposed to kill it. That was the way it was supposed to go. But what if the dragon in front of them was the one who raised them. The one who chose them and taught them ancient magic. The one who was like a parent to them.

How can you kill someone you saw as a father or a mother?

"Come on let's get this over with." Gajeel mumbled. He walked to the center of the arena with Natsu right behind him. The stood before their competitors and the iron dragon slayer could already feel the anger pouring out of Natsu.

"The referee seems to want to watch the battle outside the arena." Rogue commented out loud.

Four pair of eyes watched as the shaken referee lifted his arm and placed it quickly down. The battle had begun.

Natsu had said one punch and that was it. He waited for the other to attack but he saw that they were going to be on defense for a while.

The two Saber tooth mages immediately attacked their opponent. Rogue using his shadows tried to sneak up Gajeel, while Sting used a more blunt attack consisting of a roar. Natsu and Gajeel easily evaded the attacks and went to counter. They punched their opponents and gave them a counter attack.

"That doesn't count as the one punch you gave me. That was just a counter." Natsu commented to his partner. The other just shook his head and growled back in reply. "Just hurry the hell up Salamander."

Nodding, Natsu looked at Sting and began to run. With a running start he powered through Sting with his wing attack. The mage went flying and his precious coat was singed with burns. Gajeel watched the entire time, and when Rogue made his way to him, he didn't move.

The attack was a kick to the stomach and it was a pretty damn kick. The stupid brat had gotten strong over the years, but he was still weaker than some of Fairy Tail mages. But he went over dramatic and let the kick take him off his feet. He was planning to fall out of the arena and cause the battle to end in their lost.

He hated to lose, but if this was going to buy Wendy and Natsu more time, then it was ok. He closed his eyes and waited till gravity finally made him fall to the dirt outside the arena. This was it. He was ready to take the fall.

Before his body could leave the arena, something grabbed his leg and pulled him down onto the arena's floor. Snarling as his plan was ruined he looked up ready to punch the bastard. When he saw a pink haired idiot saved him he snapped. "Natsu what the hell are you doing?" The fire dragon slayer huffed and yelled back. "You really think I'm going to leave you alone. Fairy Tail members don't leave friends behind."

"Damn it Salamander." He muttered under his breath. He got up and looked at the Saber tooth mages. They were sporting a few scratches and bruises already, and from their expressions he could tell they weren't too happy about it.

"Ok new plan, beat their asses as quickly as possible and then make a run for it afterwards." He turned to Natsu and said through gritted teeth. "Don't mess up the plan this time."

Before Natsu could reply, something shifted in the air. They looked at the mages and saw how pissed off they looked.

"It's time to get serious now." Sting growled. The two Saber tooth mages looked at one another and nodded as if reading each other's thoughts.

The Fairy Tail mages watched as an unbelievable power began to make itself present. The arena shook as markings began to crawl onto the mages faces.

"What the hell is this?" Gajeel said under his breath. Before Natsu could even try to provide an answer, a piercing sound echoed throughout the arena. Both mages cringed and covered their ears. Never before has the sound been this loud.

"Shit!" Natsu screamed in pain. It felt like fucking swords were piercing into his body. Gajeel quickly made iron ear plugs and was going to throw some to Natsu. Before he could toss them, a shadow gripped his arm and with alarming speed, another shadow snatched the ear plugs. Rogue looked at the items confused.

Sting however was enraged and had his sights set on Natsu. His pupils wide and his body shaking with power and intentions of killing he walked forward to the pink haired mage. He didn't seem bothered that his opponents were now cringing and clutching their heads. He just pushed it aside as one of Rogue's new shadow attacks.

He ran in front of Natsu and thought of all the years he waited for this moment. He gripped him by the front of his shirt and screamed. "I'm going to surpass you Salamander! Even if I have you kill you to do it."

Natsu couldn't even hear the other's scream. Another scream had his entire attention. The ear piercing that he kept hearing was back. The scream felt like it was coming from him and each time the scream got louder his heart beat faster.

He clenched his eyes closed and held his hands over his ears. He tried to take deep breathes but a punch to his stomach had him flying to the ground. He felt spit fly out of his mouth and he worried that he might actually throw up. But he couldn't even think about that before a series of ruthless punches were struck down on him.

Sting made sure each punch landed on one spot of his body and never struck the same place twice. The fire dragon slayer didn't even fight back but instead his body convulsed and blood began to drip from his ears. The pain that was radiating from the punches was nothing compared to the pain inside his skull.

A grunt beside him had him looking. He saw Gajeel was being pinned down by shadows and Rogue was attacking him with a roar. He wondered if the scream overpowered Rogue's attack too. After what seemed like hours Sting and Rogue finally stopped for a moment and took a moment to look at both Fairy Tail mages who were now unconscious on the floor.

Blood seeping from their ears and eyes. Rogue was going to call the referee but Sting knocked his hands down. The shadow dragon slayer glared at his partner. "This isn't a fair fight any more."

"Do you think I care about it being fair? This is the perfect opportunity. We have to destroy Fairy Tail!" Sting took a step forward to the two bodies but Rogue stepped in front of him. "This is not right."

"Listen I have a promise to keep so-"

Gajeel tried to listen to the conversation but the voices faded in and out. The two Fairy Tail mages didn't bother trying to listen to what the others were saying. They were listening to something else. The scream that had tormented them and caused them pain over the past few days was now echoing through their heads.

For the first time they truly listened to it, and soon their hearts began to race. The ear piercing scream dulled and instead they heard a roar. The roar vibrated through their body and made their bodies shake. It woke something inside them. Something that had long been kept hidden.

Opening their eyes they stood up and looked at their competitors. The pained expressions were gone and instead wide smiles were on their faces. Their shirts torn and bruises now littered their bodies they stood still and stared at the two dragon slayers. It was an eerie sight.

"What's going on?" Sting demanded.

Instead of an answer, Gajeel brought his arm out and swung it upwards. Before Rogue could even understand what was going on, Gajeel was in front of him and bringing his arm down. Gajeel hit him directly in the back of the neck and brought him to the floor.

"You Bastard!" Sting tried to defend his partner but before he could even take a step forward a sharp pain spread throughout his shoulder. He looked down and his eyes grew wide in shock. The iron dragon slayer was in front of him and had a sword impaled into him. The other guild mage took a step back and he watched in horror as the sword transformed back into his arm.

His feet were swept from under him and he screamed in pain when his damaged shoulder collided with the floor. He glanced behind him to see a smirking Salamander.

Natsu opened his mouth and the two dragon slayers paled as the air around them began to heat up. "What kind of roar is this?" Sting exclaimed in shock. He never received an answer since the arena shook and was swallowed whole by fire. He and Rogue barely had time to cover themselves with their respected scales before the waves of fire overcame them.

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><p>The inferno caused blindness for all for a moment. The only reason why the watchers were unharmed was because a few mages quickly stepped up and used defensive magic to shield the audience. Levy being one of them, cursed to herself when she saw one mage put his shield away quickly. The smoke from the arena crept into the hole of the shield and quickly filled the arena. The smoke was so thick that Levy couldn't see her hand in front of her face.<p>

Casting a wind script she blew away the smoke away from her and the arena. She spotted a hunched Wendy but her eyes were drawn to the empty seat beside her.

"Where's Lucy?" She exclaimed in horror. Casting more wind scripts she looked around and scanned the crowd for any blondes. When she finally caught the sight of a blonde, her stomach dropped. Lucy was being dragged out of the arena by two masked men.

"Lucy needs help!" She screamed to the guild. The reaction was immediate as several members ran to the way she was pointing. Levy was also going to run after them but a still figure caught her attention. Wendy was still sitting, her head bowed and shoulders hunched.

"Wendy?" She ran to the side of the child and gently put her hand on the other's shoulder. "Wendy are you ok." She was expecting the child to be frightened for her fellow guild members. What she didn't expect for her hand to be slapped away.

Looking up Wendy smiled at her, an eerie smile that sent chills down Wendy's spine.

"Pathetic humans." She spat. With a flick of her wrist, winds sped around the seating area. Levy, mages and watchers were swept off their seats and were blown away. The few people that were able to withstand the winds stared in horror at the child. Someone screamed and that set everyone off. People pushed one another in order to get out of the arena.

Wendy watched them for a few moments before standing up. In a fluid smooth movement she brought her left arm up. Winds began to circulate in the sky until a tornado began to take form.

"Wendy stop it!" Charle screamed from the sky. The exceed watched as mages from other guilds began to surround Wendy. She was going to yell at her friend again, but she watched in horror as Wendy lifted one finger and pointed it at the several mages that were beginning to crowd her. "Fly away humans." Moving her finger the tornado followed it and tore apart the crowd around her.

Two seconds later, the tornado dissipated to reveal a still standing Wendy with a bored expression. Around her were the bodies of several mages and Charle felt bile rise in her throat when she spotted blood coming from some of them.

She looked down at Wendy who was sitting lazily combing her fingers through her hair. The girl and sighed. "Humans are the scum of the earth."

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><p>Rogue felt like he had just been burnt alive. He tried to get back onto his feet but an iron chain appeared before him and Sting. Before either of them could try to avoid it, the iron chain wrapped its way around their bodies. The chain tightened to the point he was afraid that if he made one wrong move his ribs would crack.<p>

Sting didn't seem to mind and struggled in the iron bonds. This only caused more chains to appear. These ones were wrapped around their necks and a pull on the chain had their heads crashing onto the floor. Struggling to look up, Rogue followed the chain. He stopped when he saw the end of the chain was held in the iron dragon slayer's hand.

Gajeel glared down at him and as he tightened his grip on the chain, the tighter the chain became around their necks. Choking for air he gasped. "Gajeel please stop. We are all dragon slayers. We were all raised by drago-"

"We are not dragon slayers." Gajeel snarled in disgust. Standing behind Gajeel, Natsu laughed. A laugh not his own. It was now a deep laugh that sent chills to the two Saber tooth mages. Natsu walked to the pinned dragon slayers and leaned down to where they were only inches away from each other. With a menacing grin he growled. "We're dragons."

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><p>The two masters of Fairy Tail sat frozen in the arena watching chaos spread.<p>

"They have finally risen." Makarov whispered. There was sweat dripping from his face as he turned towards the first master. Mavis was watching the events unfold around her with a deep frown on her face. She looked at Wendy then glanced down at Natsu and Gajeel and said through gritted teeth. "These three dragons were not ready to be born yet."

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><p>Thank you to CrazyFool65, darkhuntressxir, volvagia09. Reddevil47, GGCharms, goodlightnight1, almorlyx, Guest, and TitaniumTiger for reviewing! You guys are so lovely!<p>

Sorry for the bluntness of this A/N I have orientation right now!

SO hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please review!


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